


Fair Winds and Followings Seas

by frankzhang



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Coming Out, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Past Jason Grace/Piper McLean, i've aged up characters bc i want everyone in college at the same time idc, most of the side ships are based off canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-02-28
Packaged: 2021-03-12 01:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28626975
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frankzhang/pseuds/frankzhang
Summary: Maybe if Annabeth stopped telling him to date someone in order to move on, then maybe Percy wouldn't have accidentally said he was already seeing someone she doesn't know.Except she knows everyone he knows, so Percy is pushed to ask his new friend, a transfer student named Jason Grace.That's how Jason got a boyfriend at his new university.Or: Percy is dumb enough to make up a big lie and Jason is dumb enough to agree. Surely they're not stupid enough to catch feelings, right?
Relationships: Jason Grace/Percy Jackson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 46





	1. PERCY — Mid-September 12:38PM

_“Percy, you busy?”_

_A jaded boy looked up from the computer screen from which his eyes had been glued and saw his girlfriend standing at the door of his room. Stretching his back that he didn’t realize was bent so unnaturally, he smiled at Annabeth. Maybe he could convince her to go and come back with food to accompany him and his essay._

_“Hey, you. Actually, I’m not busy at all, let’s go somewhere.” He couldn’t help but give a wide grin to the eye-roll he received._

_Annabeth crossed the room to sit on his bed and nodded to his laptop. “I know that’s not due till Monday and that’s the only reason why I’m interrupting you at all. I’m glad you finally started it.”_

_“Yeah, well, it’s not like someone forced me or anything,” Percy said, giving a pointed look before chuckling. “So did you forget something here?”_

_There was a brief silence as Percy looked around his dorm for some of Annabeth’s things. When he noticed that she hadn’t spoken, he looked at her curiously. Her eyes were already staring right at him; the grey eyes that always saw through him and all of him. In turn, he could read her eyes as easily as he could swim, and all they showed were sadness. Percy was already out of his chair and on the bed holding her before her eyes began to fill with tears._

_“Hey, woah, hey. Annabeth, what’s up?” Once the tears fell, she ducked her head. “Hey, look at me, it’s okay. Tell me what’s going on…” Percy sighed when she didn’t lift her head and just pulled her to his chest._

_From experience, he knew that Annabeth will not talk until she thinks she’ll be coherent enough to be understood. To Annabeth, that meant waiting for her to stop crying or stop being so angry, which was what Percy was more used to. Annabeth, smart and beautiful Annabeth, crying was something that he was not as accustomed to as her silent glaring._

_Percy knows that he’s always been the one that was more sensitive in the long run. So as they sat on the bed, with Annabeth slightly shaking in his arms, Percy knew all he could do now was be patient._

_It wasn’t long before Annabeth sniffled and wiped away her tears to look at Percy. He didn’t want to be the one to break their silence, so he just helped her wipe the tears and kissed her forehead. He nearly panicked when he saw that kissing her made her tear up once again._

_Before he could apologize, Annabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Sorry, I just…” She opened her eyes and stared deeply into his. “Percy, we need to talk.”_

_Now, Annabeth Chase is not stupid, not by a long shot. She knew Percy like the backs of their hands and understood that once she said those words, he would immediately know what direction the conversation was going. For once, Percy wanted to be stupid enough to not read between the lines. Maybe she had trouble booking a flight to go to California for summer next month or she just wanted his opinion on what color the building she was designing should be, but he knew it was wishful thinking._

_He played dumb anyway._

_“Sure,” Percy said lightly. He put on a forced smile. “What’s on your mind, Wise Girl? Because Grover already picked out a place to eat tonight.”_

_Annabeth looked as if she wanted to be grateful for his attempt. “You know what’s on my mind, Percy…”_

_To her credit, she never broke eye contact, and Percy saw the message crystal clear. Percy dropped his hands from where they were playing with her hair. He wanted to remove his hands completely, but he needed to keep some form of contact with her, so he held her hands._

_“Annabeth…”_

_“Percy… I… We…” He was a little stunned to hear Annabeth struggling to put her thoughts into words. He supposed he couldn’t blame her; all that was in his mind was_ oh god, it’s happening, why is this happening? _“Percy, you are my best friend, and you always will be. And I love you, so much.”_

_“Yeah, I love you too but…”_

_“I think we should break up.”_

_There it was. The stupid words that ruined half of Percy’s summer._

_He couldn’t say anything. He_ didn’t _say anything, other than a strained, “Why?”_

_“I need to focus on myself for a little while. And I don’t want you to be holding onto me as I do.” She took another deep breath and squeezed his hands. “I discovered that I'm an aromantic asexual. Do you know what that is?” He shook his head. “It means I’m not sexually or romantically attracted to anyone.”_

_She let him have a chance to process what she said. Percy was sure she could see the wheels turning in his head. Soon enough, he was shaking his head in response._

_“I don’t care about sex, Annabeth, I care about you. I_ love _you. Please.”_

_“I know you do, but Percy, I can’t love you like that. I can’t feel the same way that I know you do. And I need time to fully even know what that means for us, for me.”_

_Percy didn’t know when he started crying. He had been staring so intensely into Annabeth’s eyes, trying to grasp at straws as to how maybe it was him, maybe he just wasn’t good enough. He didn’t even need to blink. The tears only fell when his green eyes held too much, and Annabeth thought that it looked like the ocean was overflowing._

_“But I still love you so much. You’re always going to be my Seaweed Brain, my best friend. I love you enough to let you go.”_

_Percy stopped thinking then. Looking back at it, he knew that he probably could have saved himself a summer’s heartache if he just stayed and listened to Annabeth there. He could have asked more questions, been more curious and understanding. He was just dumb instead, and this time he didn’t need to pretend._

_He stood up. “You can’t keep telling me you love me and you want to leave me in the same fucking sentence, Annabeth. God, I don’t get it. If you fucking love me, then_ stay.” _Percy crouched down in front of her and took her hands again. “Please, Annabeth. You were, you_ are _my future. I need you in it. I can’t see it without you. Let me love you enough for both of us that you stop thinking that way. I want-”_

_Annabeth’s eyes flashed briefly at his words. “Percy, this isn’t just something I’m thinking anymore. It took me a long time to understand that, even longer to accept it. During our entire relationship, I thought that what we had was the same, that what we had was, was like the movies. But it’s not. This is how I feel and we can’t change that. I don’t_ want _you to change that. Love me enough that you understand that I can’t feel that way.”_

_“If I fucking loved you enough, then you wouldn’t have to!” Percy all but shouted. He had to get up again to take a step back. Because he just shouted at the love of his life, and she was leaving him. He felt his face contort in an effort to not completely break down in front of Annabeth._

_“Please, stay. I’m sorry,” Percy breathed. Now he went to sit back at his desk. “I’m sorry you feel that way. God, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you can’t love me, maybe if I just, if I just did more or-”_

_His eyes couldn’t meet hers anymore. Reaching up to run his hand in his hair, he focused on anything else in his room. Looking at the girl who seemed to be breaking both their hearts felt a bit painful if you asked Percy. The dorm had been empty for so long that he couldn’t help but wonder if Annabeth told Grover about today. It hurts more thinking about how his best friends knew._

_“Oh, Percy.” She said it so gently that he had to force down a sob. “Don’t you dare blame yourself for this. Neither of us could help it. It doesn’t matter how hard you could have loved me like that. I’m sorry that this isn’t what I want. Percy, please look at me.”_

_It shouldn’t have been that difficult. Annabeth had gotten up and walked toward him. After a moment’s hesitation, she reached out to cup his face and wiped his cheeks. Not that it helped to prevent more tears from running down._

_“I’m happy I got to be your first love. I’m happy that we were together.” The past tense in her statement just made his heart heavier. “How I feel, I realize I feel for anyone I care for. I’m not sorry for who I am, but I am sorry that I can’t give you everything you gave me.” Annabeth kissed his forehead. “You deserve someone that will do that and more.” Then she kissed his cheeks. “Find someone that makes you the center of their universe the way you made me yours._

_“I love you so much, Percy Jackson. If there was anyone that I could love like that, I would pick you in a heartbeat.” Annabeth kissed his lips._

_She kept it chaste but let it linger, like a goodbye. She brushed her fingers through his hair trying to tame it and let her eyes study his face. She wiped his tears again. She leaned away and withdrew her hands. She then wiped her own tears. After a beat, she walked away._

_Percy didn’t turn his chair to watch her leave. He didn’t need to see that. So when Annabeth turned back to offer a small smile by the door, he didn’t notice._

_“I hope we talk soon.”_

_He was just waiting for the sound for the door to close once more before finally looking back. When he saw that she really wasn’t there anymore, that Annabeth had really walked out that door, he lifted himself up from his desk and carried himself to the bed. Percy doesn’t remember much from that day, that week, that month, after she left._

_All he really remembers was that he never did finish that essay._

✧ ✧ ✧

That essay ruined his A-B grade average of freshman year. Percy was lucky that that essay happened to be the last major assignment of that course and he passed with the flying colors of a C minus. Annabeth had hit him repeatedly when they began talking again for allowing himself to succumb to wallowing in his self-pity from the breakup.

It was not _his_ fault that he wasn’t thinking clearly enough to process that technically Annabeth would still be in his future, even if she wouldn’t be in the position of his partner. She had to drill that idea into his head before he finally understood it. They were still Percy and Annabeth, the dangerous and dynamic duo, except with less kissing and even more platonic cuddling.

The day that Annabeth had returned from California visiting her family for the summer, Percy was still miserable in his mom and Paul’s – too expensive for it’s living space – apartment in Manhattan. He had answered the knock on the door, covered with blue cookie crumbs, and immediately slammed the door in Annabeth’s face once he glimpsed her blonde hair.

After wrestling with the door, they talked. They had a long conversation where she explained what it was like being aromantic and asexual from her and other’s experience – in which she wasn’t the only one that believed that strong feelings for people you care for equal romantic or sexual attraction. Annabeth told him about how she simply felt the same way towards everyone, and she wasn’t actually going to disappear from his life just because they weren’t dating.

They were always best friends first, and she didn’t want to lose him either.

Sally and Paul returned home to find Percy drooling in her lap asleep. She stayed over that night, letting Percy pick _Finding Nemo_ to appease him, and since then it’s as if nothing truly changed.

That was two months ago.

Now it’s September and Percy is sitting in a lecture hall, trying to listen to something about the physics of gravity on another thing while texting Grover to bring some lunch back to their dorm room. More than halfway through the professor’s Ted Talk that has nothing to do with physics, someone walks in and lands three seats away from Percy in the last row.

The blond guy that Percy finds much more interesting than this class is fumbling with his things, attempting to squint at the whiteboard and take out a notebook with a calculator and laptop simultaneously. Percy snickers as the guy continues to struggle to prepare for being late. He has to hold back a louder laugh when Percy watches the guy finally begin to listen to how the professor had just finished discussing his newborn child. The blond’s wide shoulders droop and he seems to look even more exasperated than he did when he was walking in.

Percy decides to take some pity on the new guy and silently scoots two seats closer. He waits for him to stop rubbing his face and put his glasses back on before finally speaking to let him know how the class works.

“Hey,” says Percy.

The new guy startles before looking left at him. “Oh, hello?”

“You good, dude? You seemed to be in a hell of a rush.”

“No, uh, my friends just kept me from finding this building and keep giving me the wrong directions. They think it’s funny but it’s starting to get on my nerves,” the guy says, rolling his very blue eyes. So concerningly blue that Percy wonders if they are his real eyes.

“Oh damn, is it your first day or something?”

The guy shakes his head. “No, I’ve been here since the start of the year. I just keep mixing up which building is which.”

“Bro, school started like, three weeks ago, how…”

“Yeah, I know, I know. This place is just a lot bigger than at my last university.”

“Ooh, are you a transfer?” When Percy sees him nod, he offers, “Want a tour? I don’t have class after this and it beats napping.”

That was a white lie because nothing beats napping in college, but he sees a face he didn’t recognize and wants to get to know it.

They both look to the front of the hall to spot several people rising to leave. Percy knows the reason is that everyone knows that the professor is done teaching them for the day. He should probably tell Grover to grab lunch with his girlfriend instead since Percy gave himself another job as the university’s tour guide.

“Yeah, why not? I’m just gonna stop by my room to leave my stuff. That’s the only building I know how to get to.”

"Awesome,” Percy says. He heads back to his own seat to pack his things before turning back. “Oh shit, yeah. I’m Percy, by the way.”

“I’m Jason,” he responds, lightly chuckling. “Probably should’ve started with that, huh?”

Percy laughs as they leave the building together. They walk across the grass to the dormitories, neither noticing that they both are heading to the same dorm wing.

On the walk, Jason sighs. “I didn’t even realize how late I was. There was literally no point in going today.”

“Especially because he’s one of those guys that spends the rest of the hour talking about himself,” Percy sympathizes. They turn in the same direction to their dorms once they are inside. “I mean, I don’t mind him, he’s like me. He’s a little too much like me actually.”

Jason snorts. “Yeah. I don’t suppose I can ask you what went down today?”

“Nah, I got you. I’ll let you copy my notes. I don’t know what’s going on in them until I study them later, but feel free to look at them.”

His new friend’s eyes widen slightly. “Thanks, man. I’d really appreciate that. That’d actually be perfect, I owe you one.”

“Anytime,” Percy says offhandedly as he stops in front of his room. “This is me. You didn’t need to walk me, dude.”

As he is pulling out his own keys, Jason turns to give him an inquisitive look. “What? No, I wasn’t. I thought you were walking me to mine?”

The two boys fully turn to examine the door that the other stood in front of. Directly across the hall is the other’s dorm room. Rooms 1027 and 1028 and their occupants are staring at each other’s faces. Percy could not help the laughter spilling out of him.

“What are the _chances!”_ he exclaimed. “I’m surprised I’ve never seen you in passing.” He saw Jason begin to reply before he cut him off. “Hang on, let’s put our stuff away and I’ll give you my notes. Then I can show you around.”

Percy turns back to his room and his friend does the same as he enters. His best friend, Grover Underwood, is already lounging on his own bed eating a burger as Percy’s own food is placed on his desk.

“Oh hey, G-man. Forgot to tell you, I’m showing a friend the campus. Thanks for getting me the food though.”

“Perce, don’t waste the food-”

He rolls his eyes. “I won’t. I’ll eat it later, or if you want, give it to June or something.”

Percy puts down his things and removes his physics notebook while Grover says that his girlfriend deserves more than a greasy, five-dollar burger. He takes his notebook and hands it to Jason, who was patiently waiting outside the room. His new friend and roommate nod to each other and once the notebook is safely tossed haphazardly into Jason’s room, they set off to the building that Percy knows takes priority above all else.

“This is the university food court. There’s a bunch of places to get food on campus, but this place is the biggest one and easiest to go to. If we have enough time, I’ll show you a bakery bistro place that has cake that will make you cry.”

“Looking forward to it,” Jason agrees. “Does the food court stay open late?”

“Not late enough for freaking college students, man. All the food places tied to the uni’ close at ten.”

Jason nods along as Percy recounts the time when he and Annabeth happened to discover that the campus bakery bistro’s door was magically unlocked one fateful midnight last year. Percy absolutely did not say that he broke in because the door was genuinely unlocked and the nearby campus cameras had been turned off.

“Dude, you’re gonna get arrested one day.”

“Arrested for what,” Percy jokes. “Broke college guy steals two whole cakes and twenty dollars worth of shortbread? I knew you were funny, Jason.”

“Wait, did you actually steal two whole cakes? Where would you even hide-”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Percy flashes a grin at him cheekily. “Let us move on to my favorite place.”

Percy revels in the suspicious stare that he feels Jason gives him as he leads them to the university’s Student Activity Center, which holds the largest swimming pool in the city.

“Oh, do you swim?” Jason inquires. “I didn’t know we had a swim team.”

“We do, but I’m not part of it. I show up and practice with them sometimes, but it’s mostly just a hobby. Water calms the mind and all. It’s where I go for some quiet.”

Jason and Percy pass the entrance to the pool area, where the swim team was currently meeting and several people were swimming some laps. The pool area was bustling with a good number of people and it was anything but actually quiet. He can hear Jason’s next statement already so he stops it before he could start.

“Okay, it’s not the most peaceful place. But it’s being under the water. You can still see everything still happening above but you can’t hear anything but the water rushing. You know?” He expects to see a confused expression, or at least a Percy-you’re-not-making-sense face, but instead Jason nods in understanding.

“I get that. At my old school, I wanted the same thing, except instead of going underwater, I went to the roof of the dorms there. Stuff still goes on under me but it’s quiet where I am, high above and separated.”

Percy studies Jason as Jason studies the pool’s facilities. “I think we’ll be good friends, Jason.”

Jason followed him around the campus for half an hour, visiting the major buildings that included the libraries and the computers with the printers. He told his friend that he should look for doors that open to rooftops in his spare time since Percy never tried to get on a roof before. They visited the buildings that were part of Jason’s courses, which unfortunately did not include any more of Percy’s, to prevent any more mishaps like today, and the campus fitness center upon Jason’s request that he never had time to check it out.

Percy leads him right to the glass doors of the gym. “I don’t think you’ll need it, Superman,” Percy states, gesturing to his body, “but here it is. You’ll need your student ID number to access it and stuff, but can you believe that you pay for the lockers in the back hourly? I recommend just carrying your shit, it costs three dollars. You could get a slice of that tear-jerking cake I told you about.”

Percy shakes his head in disapproval. He gets that the university needs money and whatnot, but locker fees rub him the wrong way, especially for people like him who happened to be on an academic scholarship. The equipment and the technology were amazing on the campus, so Percy couldn’t really file a complaint about a fee he never paid. His friend hums while eyeing what Percy thinks is the next bench press that Jason will dominate in the coming days.

“Thanks, Percy. You helped me a lot today.” Jason turns away from observing the gym and gives him a genuine smile. His phone buzzes and Jason pulls it out to read a text Percy can’t see and the smile he held becomes a small scowl. “Hey man, I gotta go but I’ll see you around. One last thing though, can you point me in the general direction of building B?”

His smile reappears once he faces Percy again and Percy bit back a laugh at the person that caused Jason’s mood to shift so suddenly. “For sure. You remember where the food court is?” His friend nods. “It’s directly across the grass. There’ll be signs, you can’t miss it.”

He leaves Percy in front of a glass window openly displaying sweaty students with a farewell and a wave. Percy chuckles as he turns to walk back to his dorm.

Jason seems to be a fun person to hang out with, and he wouldn’t mind having another person aside from Annabeth and Grover to bother and spend time with. Maybe Jason would become someone he could get close to. It was only a grand stroke of luck that he happened to live directly across from him. He’s glad that he seems to have made a new friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i loved the idea of annabeth being aroace after i read this thesis called [Intimacy and Desire Through the Lens of an AroAce Woman of Color](https://scarab.bates.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1283&context=honorstheses). i really recommend it :)


	2. JASON — Mid-September 1:16PM

Jason begins to head towards the B building that Leo said he and Piper were waiting at. He wonders what would happen if he just didn’t show up. Maybe then Leo Last-One-There-Pays Valdez would buy lunch instead of him. If he hadn’t dealt with his friends for so many years already, Jason would be irritated with Leo’s attitude and Piper letting him get away with it. Now, he is just mildly displeased.

The only upside that today has brought is Jason’s new friend Percy. He had shown him around, which is more than his own best friends have done, and gave him his notes to help catch up. So far, since he moved on campus a month ago, Piper has kept giving him the wrong directions to all his classes, both she and Leo have made it a habit of snatching his things without returning them, and Jason is positive that Leo had copied his room key, so he’ll have to watch out in his own dorm and maybe apologize to his roommate in advance.

But despite his exasperation towards his friends, it feels like he was never away at a different school for a whole year. 

“Jay!” he hears Piper yell.

He squints to make out his friends sitting on the steps of the building, both rising to meet him. Leo beams down at him as he approaches, his smile ever so telling of every trick he’s played today.

“How was  _ your  _ day today?” Leo asks, his eyes twinkling. “Pipes here tells me you took the wrong turn to class again.”

They walk down the stairs and Leo reaches up to rest his arm on Jason’s shoulders. “Did she now?”

“Yeah, it’s really unfortunate, Jay,” Piper plays along. “We should get you a map or something.”

“You know, I  _ had _ a map. Then one day, it disappeared.” Jason puts on a fake shocked expression and pushes Leo’s arm off to place his own on his friend’s shoulders. “You guys drive me insane, you know that? Come on, before I ditch and just buy my own food.”

As he walks away, dragging Leo with him, Piper teases, “You know where to find the food? I’m impressed.”

“Watch it, McLean, or else you’re gonna watch Leo and I eat tofu without you.”

“Yeah, watch it,  _ beauty queen.  _ Tofu without you…” Leo leans into Jason. “Wait, can we eat something not vegan?” he whispers. 

Jason glances at him while they walk to the food court. “Leo, I was kidding.”

“Oh shit, really? I can never tell with you.”

He tightens his arm around Leo’s neck and walks them to a vegetarian vendor to spite him. Piper makes no complaint, but he can feel the restraint his friend has just so Jason will still pay for his lunch.

They sit at a small round table sharing french fries with their own food, as Jason had spared Leo of the salad options and let him order some hot wings. While his friends argue on what dessert is superior for the sake of arguing, Jason remembers the bakery that Percy brought him to earlier. There are only two people he knew that could break into a place and not get caught.

“You don’t know anything until you’ve tried some of my Tía Callida’s  _ tres leches.” _

“I’m sure it’s good, but any pie à la mode is better than everything. It’s not up for debate,” Piper says, feigning haughtiness as lettuce dangles from her fork.

“Listen here, beauty queen-”

“Stop calling me beauty queen, Leo, or I swear I will hide all of your skinny jeans and-”

Jason cuts her off before she could escalate her threat. “Hey guys, wanna know what I found out today?”

“Don’t touch my pants,” glares Leo before focusing on him. “What’d you learn?”

“Someone was showing me around earlier and they told me the funniest thing,” Jason smirks. “Do either of you know anything about some bakery heist that happened last year?” He laughs as Leo blanches while Piper slaps their friend on the shoulder.

“You said there’d be no witnesses, you  _ idiot!  _ Now even Jason knows.”

“Th-there shouldn’t have been?” Leo stutters. “It was past midnight, Pipes, and there weren’t any cameras on.  _ Jason,  _ who told you? Me and Piper need to deal with them quick.”

It was probably an empty threat and he brushes it aside, but Jason doesn’t want to risk a new friend’s life anyway. “Relax, the person who told me didn’t even know who did it. I just know you guys too well that it wasn’t hard to guess. But a bakery? Really?”

Leo slouches with a sigh. “Dude. Have you even eaten there? It’s heaven and I ate cake for a week.” His friend takes a bite of chicken before he adds, “Besides, it’s the easiest place to steal from without major repercussions if we got caught.”

“Of course that’s why you did it.” He lets out an amicable sound. 

“Who told you about it and how’d they even knew in the first place?” Piper asks.

“You guys know a Percy? I have him in Physics.”

“Wait, Percy Jackson? Green eyes that probably have girls tripping over themselves?” Leo asks around a bone.

“Uh, yeah, that’s him.”

“I’ve heard about some pranks he’s pulled. Plus everyone and their moms love him. There’s some talk that he and Brunner, you know, the  _ dean _ are actually like, chill with each other.”

Piper rolls her eyes at Leo. “Of course you’d know someone like him. You should talk to him, maybe then you’d stop getting on all your professors’ nerves.”

Leo throws a fry at her and she just retaliates by sticking out her tongue. As they all finish their lunch, Leo is interrupted by someone that Jason recognizes from one of those club tables he approached during orientation. If he could remember correctly, this tall African-American boy is Charles Beckendorf that people call by his last name. Why the vice president of the engineering club is talking to Leo is anyone’s guess, especially since Leo told him that he refuses to join any clubs.

“Hey guys,” he greets. “If you don’t mind, I need to steal Valdez for a sec.”

“Oh, what’s up, Beckendorf! Why, what’s goin’ on?”

“Festus was malfunctioning again and someone spilled some Pepsi on it.” Beckendorf shrugs. “Figured you’d want to check it out.”

As Leo complains about ‘Festus’ never malfunctioning unless someone messes with him, Jason leans toward Piper and asks, “Festus?”

“A robotic dog he built last year. The engineering club offered to watch it as long as they can use Leo when they need him. They consult him on engineering and math and stuff.”

“Why Festus? It’s Happy in Latin.”

“Hell if I know,” Piper states, munching on a crouton.

Leo sighs and looks at the rest of his hot wings, probably debating on whether he should take it or not. After a difficult thought, his friend pushes the paper plate toward Jason and stands with Beckendorf. Their height difference is only a little bit amusing to Jason.

“Sorry, I gotta bounce.” Leo turns away with Beckendorf before looking back. “Oh, and if either of you see Cal around, tell her it’s her turn to buy  _ me  _ dinner.” They walk away to the science building.

Jason and Piper look at each other, fully knowing that neither of them are going to tell Leo’s girlfriend anything.

Stealing Piper’s fork, he begins picking at the chicken without bothering to share with her. “Did you wanna do something?” he asks. “Because I have work to do, notes to copy.”

Piper hums and puts on a thoughtful look. “You can help me set two people up,” she suggests.

He glances at his friend dubiously. “I thought you were done meddling with relationships…”

Scoffing, Piper says, “No Jay, I said I was done with  _ our  _ relationship. And I do  _ not  _ meddle. I simply just accelerate the process of getting together.”

“Okay, _ ouch. _ It was mutual and you know it,” he deadpans. “Pipes, that is practically the definition of meddling.”

“Whatever.” She waves him off as she watches Leo and Charles Beckendorf in the distance. “I know someone that has had her eyes on Charlie for a long time.”

“Charlie… You mean Beckendorf?”

She nods and continues. “Someone who stays in the dorm next to mine likes him. We can help her out.”

“Piper, no, we should stay out of it. It’s not our business anyway.”

“Suit yourself, old man. I like to imagine they’d be cute together.”

Jason scoffs. “I’m literally a year younger than you.”

“Not in spirit, you’re not. You and Leo might have skipped a grade, but you are older than me and Leo combined, Mr. Grace.” She leans forwards as she joshes him until he puts some chicken in between them to make her back away.

“Ew,  _ Jason.”  _ Glaring at him, she continues. “You’re only eighteen, and you’re finally out of that snobby school and in college with your best friends in the universe. Let’s go do something fun.”

As he finishes up the last hot wing, he replies, “You and Leo’s ideas of fun include breaking into bakeries and robbing them of their pastries. I’d sooner be the person who bails you guys out.”

“Oh, don’t sell yourself short, Jay. You could be our lookout,” she gushes with a chuckle.

He pretends to think to humor Piper. “I’ll be the getaway driver, how’s that?” he compromises. Jason gathers their trash and stands to throw it away. “If you’re done eating though, I actually do have work to do.”

She hands him the empty salad bowl. “Always such a perfect student, Grace. Remind me again why I never asked you to do my work in high school?”

Jason lets out a laugh. “You  _ did,  _ McLean. And it never happened.” He laughs again as she sticks her tongue out. “See you later, Pipes.”

“Bye, Jay.” She gives him half a hug and walks off to seemingly play matchmaker.

When Jason returns to the dorms, he glances at the closed door across his and wonders if Percy was making good on his napping claim. Once inside, he greets his roommate at his desk, preparing to go to his own lecture.

“What’s up, Frank?”

His roommate looks up and smiles at him with a nod. “Hey, Jason.”

Walking to his own desk opposite Frank's, Jason proceeds to take out his notebook. He plops down on his chair and quickly scans through Percy’s notes for Physics. Despite being a bit messy and unorganized, the idea of the lesson from earlier was very concise. Jason couldn’t help but be impressed at his new friend even as he squints at a word to decipher what it says. As he picks up his pen, he glances at his bed. He looks away and at Percy’s notebook before starting to write.

Frank closes his bag, heading for the door, as Jason glances at his bed again.

Before he thinks too hard about it, he calls out for him. “Hey, Frank? Could you come wake me up before Criminology today?”

Frank happens to have the same time as him for their Criminology Theory course on Thursdays. Jason suspects that that’s why the university picked them for roommates. The university probably figured that Jason Grace would ask Frank Zhang to wake him up from a midday nap so he wouldn’t miss class.

Frank agrees.

Long after Frank leaves, Jason is halfway through Percy’s notes and stops writing. Piper’s voice has been in the back of his head since their lunch together. He looks at his notes and compares them to Percy’s. The words Jason wrote are neat and orderly, all within the margins of Cornell Notes. It looks as if a Roman soldier decided to annotate a page of a Physics textbook. 

_ Perfect student…  _ Jason thinks.  _ I’m starting to see it. _

He puts his pen down and looks at his bed. Piper probably doesn’t think perfect students nap, maybe even thinking they read Homer’s  _ Odyssey  _ for fun. Though Jason has to admit he did read it. Standing, he strips his shirt and heads to his corner of the room.

As he takes off his glasses, Jason decides to dedicate his nap to Piper out of mild spite and sleeps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the shit updates, i'm just a shit person. hope you enjoyed.


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